Return to Transitions Newsletter

by Cheryl Deep

"I've been interested in older adults as long as a I can remember."

Rodlescia Sneed, PhD, MPH, may be new to the faculty of the IOG but her desire to help vulnerable older adults started decades ago.  She grew up in a multi-generational house in Detroit. Her grandparents were part of the household her entire childhood. "I was always interacting with elders at home, in church, in the community," she said. "Now as an adult I'd like my work to improve the health of older people, particularly African Americans, in cities like Detroit and Flint." Her research themes of health equity and social well-being in vulnerable older adults testifies to this passion.

Dr. Sneed studied molecular biology as an undergraduate at Princeton, then epidemiology (the study of the spread and control of diseases in the population) as a master's student at Columbia. Her PhD in Social and Health Psychology from Carnegie Mellon eventually lead her to Michigan State and now to her position as assistant professor at the IOG and the Department of Psychology. She learned about the IOG through her work as a scientist with MCUAAAR, the Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research which created the Healthier Black Elders Center (HBEC).

"The IOG is truly the community engagement arm of that project," she said. "What they've accomplished is really impressive, and in an institute where everyone cares about older adults."

IOG outreach touches thousands of older adults each year.  Dr. Sneed had never seen anything of that magnitude. She was so impressed, she got her family members to register with the HBEC. "Since my passion is working with African Americans, and I'm a native Detroiter, the IOG was an amazing fit for me. When I saw the posting for a faculty position, I thought, It doesn't get any better than that."

Factors that Foster Health

Dr. Sneed's current research threads survey the impact of intergenerational relationships, incarceration, and how health policy changes the health of older adults. The first study, "Intergenerational Relationships: The Flint Women's Study," aims to understand how the positive and negative aspects of relationships impact health outcomes for older women.  "Is it the marital relationship? The faith relationship? The community or children? We want to unpack what that ideal network looks like. Then we can try to foster that as an intervention."

Project number two, "The Health and Well-Being of African American Older Adults with a History of Incarceration," sprang from her Flint-based work.  "African Americans are overrepresented in the criminal justice system, and the impact of justice system involvement can be long-lasting. She wondered how prior incarceration impacted the lives of African Americans as they aged.  What then were the implications for their health?

Her third research issue is access to healthcare. She noticed that the very young and the very old tend to have good, free or low-cost options for healthcare.  But late middle age can bring a lot of chronic disease without much access to care. Her work in this area looks at how individuals in late middle-age might be impacted by health policy changes like work requirements for Medicaid or changes in age eligibility for Medicare. Would Medicaid workforce requirements lead to coverage losses and ultimately to poor disease management? Would lowering the age for Medicare eligibility increase access to care for late middle-aged individuals?

Solving Problems as a Partner

Her education kept her mostly on the east coast, so Dr. Sneed is happy to be back in Michigan. She's looking forward to exploring Midtown; when she left 20 years ago, there was no area in Detroit called "Midtown."  She knows Wayne State's campus well, having explored it as a child while her mom pursued her master's degree. "It always felt like home," she said, "but I see lots of new buildings to discover, too."

When asked what she thinks the impact of her work will be in a decade, Dr. Sneed's answer is both practical and humble. "I want to do real intervention work that improves the lives of older people in the Detroit area," she said. "I want to see the university and the community come together to solve problems that are important to older adults. I have certain expertise, but the older adults who live here know what they need more than I do. I want to work closely with community partners and older adults to remove obstacles and solve problems. If I've done that in 10 years, I will be proud."